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So, without further ado, I can finally present my new mapping for the Midi Fighter 3D. Being the geek that I am, instead of using one of the amazing mappings available on the DJ Tech Tools website, I decided to create something customized to my rig. After much use on the road and at many different gigs I am happy enough to share with the rest of you. The FX are setup to work mainly around the 125-132 BPM range. I haven’t tested them out with any other ranges but with a bit of tweaking you can get it to work for your own sound.

There comes a time when you start bringing a lot of equipment with you. Each piece of equipment will have at least 1 wire you need to attach to it. Multiple power plugs may need to be plugged in. USB cords in and out of the computer. USB Hubs.. power plugs, hard drives. The list can go on.

I need 4 USB cables for my equipment, plus 1 USB for the Hub to connect to the computer. I now need 3 spots on a power strip. 1 for the MacBook, 1 for the S2 and 1 more for the USB Hub. When you travel from gig to gig 3 spots is a lot to ask for on a busy power strip. I needed a solution to make the set up and take down quick and painless. Something that would help with organizing and storing all at once. I needed a cheap solution, because.. why not.

Back before the digital world, right before a gig, I would have to go through my records and fill up my bag with the vinyl I would most likely play depending upon the gig. Fast forward to today, I needed something to quickly go through my tracks from various playlists and add said tracks to a preparation playlist, or, my digital record bag if you will. I created this mapping to work with the midi fighter 3D from DJ Tech Tools. It will be available for free from the DJ Tech Tools mapping database on their site.

This map reduces the time needed to prepare your tracks. It should only be turned on during this time otherwise it will interfere with other maps. Continue reading →

*Updated* The other day I was reading an article on DJ Tech Tools called “DIY Autosave in Traktor”. It talked about setting up a keyboard shortcut and using a third party app called ‘QuickKeys’ in order to autosave your collection and a few of your settings. Great article, so go read it if you haven’t read it yet.

Since it’s almost 2013 and I get lazier (or smarter) as I age I decided to automate the difficult task of opening up my Traktor and Maschine software while closing all other applications and turning WIFI off, all mapped out to a keyboard shortcut. The beauty of DJTT’s article is that it uses an application that works for both Windows and Mac OS X. Again, I am lazy so you will get the non third party Mac only tutorial.

First thing we need to do is open up “Automator” located in your Applications/Utlities/ Folder. Choose ‘Service’ for the type of document we are creating. We chose service instead of an application so we can give it a keyboard shortcut later. Since we are not sending any inputs to our service application change the ‘Service receives selected’ ‘text’ to ‘no input’ in ‘any application’.

Im not sure if you heard, but the Spanish Promotion Agency, WIP, banned Traktor from their events. They informed everyone by making a now deleted note on Facebook, got picked up by all the big online mags.. Mixmag, DJ Techtools and a whole bunch of other sites…

Before we get started here is a quote from the note (via DJ Tech Tools):

“The real issue is with “artists” who swear they can play any format be it CD, vinyl, usb and or Traktor but whose Traktor sets are nothing but stale, bland and outright insulting to a paying crowd and promoter.

We’ve also grown tired of the endless issues with missing cables, problems with timecode (learn how to use your gear before you play out), taking up the previous Dj’s time to set up your gear (cause you didn’t want to come to the club early and set up your Traktor), how is it you play 5 times a week and still don’t know how to set it up right?

And, more importantly we’re fed up with the general laziness shown by 99% of “artists” that we’ve seen and heard playing Traktor.”

Personally I think that this is starting to highlight a major problem with today’s DJ and Promoter.Continue reading →

So recently a friend of mine, DJ__MtP (Swing Kids) decided to give me a new early birthday present. (I’m still expecting a late one, MtP) Basically he is getting the bigger better version of Maschine so he gave me his first generation Maschine Mikro.

First thing I wanted to do was to take the output of the Maschine Software and re-route it back into one of my decks via live input in Traktor. With this method I can control Maschine’s output via Deck C. I’m able to control it’s E.Q., volume and add Traktor effects to the deck. You can also record your Maschine patterns using the loop recorder. Be sure to change the source to CUE and turn on the Monitor Cue on to be able to single out just the Maschine. Continue reading →

I remember in the 90s when hip hop was damn good. When it was about the good life, being fun and energetic like, De La Soul or Tribe Called Quest, or when it was about real life in the streets like NaS, Smif-N-Wessun, Pete Rock… and in like all music you had the clowns, people like Vanilla Ice, MC Hammer etc… But in the golden age of hip hop you would notice that you can name more of the ‘real’ artists then you could clowns.

Aside

So, today, is Wednesday. Know what that means? Another big installment of Dj__MtP Radio coming your way. Tonight we have Dj__MtP‘s live set from Tripping Out EDM, Rob Bamboo Cifre‘s live mix from Relax Sundays last sunday, DJ-Daysix‘s electro house mix. As an added bonus, tonight we have a brand new promo mix from Steve Killamonjaro dropped live for the first time tonight! Oh and we have a interview with Bamboo. No Big deal really. We start it up at 8 so tune in to your favorite station 🙂